Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T07:26:16.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Disaster Events and the Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death: A Washington State Investigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Laura S. Gold ,
Leslee B. Kane ,
Nona Sotoodehnia  and
Thomas Rea
Laura S. Gold*
Affiliation:
University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Department of Epidemiology, Seattle, Washington, USA Division of Emergency Medical Services, Public Health Seattle and King County, Seattle, Washington, USA
Leslee B. Kane
Affiliation:
University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA
Nona Sotoodehnia
Affiliation:
University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA
Thomas Rea
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medical Services, Public Health Seattle and King County, Seattle, Washington, USA University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA
*
Laura Gold, MSPH 401 5th AvenueSuite 1200Seattle, WA 98104USA E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Psychological distress following disaster events may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death. In 2001, the Nisqually earthquake and the 11 September terrorist attacks profoundly affected Washington state residents.

Hypothesis:

This research investigated the theory that the incidence of sudden cardiac death would increase following these disaster events.

Methods:

Death certificates were abstracted using a uniform case definition to determine the number of sudden cardiac deaths for the 48-hour and one week periods following the two disaster events. Sudden cardiac deaths from the corresponding 48-hour and one-week periods in the three weeks before the events, and the analogous periods in 1999 and 2000 were designated as control times. Using t-tests, the number of sudden cardiac deaths for the periods following the disaster events was compared to those of the control periods.

Results:

In total, 32 sudden cardiac deaths occurred in the four counties affected by the Nisqually earthquake during the 48 hours after the event, compared to an average of 22 ±3.5 (standard deviation) in the same counties during the control periods (p = 0.02). No difference was observed for the one week period (94 compared to 79.2 ±12.4,p = 0.28). No difference was observed in the number of sudden cardiac deaths in the 48-hours or one-week following the terrorist attacks compared to control periods.

Conclusions:

A local disaster caused by a naturally occurring hazard, but not a geographically remote human disaster, was associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms may have implications for prevention of sudden cardiac death.

Keywords

11 September 2001myocardial infarctionnatural disastersstresssudden cardiac deathterroristattacks
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , August 2007 , pp. 313 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Stalnikowicz, R, Tsafrir, A: Acute psychosocial stress and cardiovascular events. Am J Emerg Med 2002;20:488–491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Lin, LY, Wu, CLiu, Y et al. : Derangement of heart ratevariability during a catastrophic earthquake: A possible mechanism for increased heart attacks. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol 2001;24:1596–1601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Tofler, GH: Triggering and the pathophysiology of acute coronary syndromes. Am Heart J 1997;134:S55–S61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Pignalberi, C, Ricci, R, Santini, M: Psychological stress and sudden death. Ital Heart J Suppl 2002;3:1011–1021.Google ScholarPubMed
5.Strike, PC, Steptoe, A: Behavioral and emotional triggers of acute coronary syndromes: A systematic review and critique. Psychosom Med 2005;67:179–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Servoss, SJ, Januzzi, JL, Muller, JE: Triggers of acute coronary syndromes. Prog Cardiovasc Dis 2002;44:369–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Assessment of health-related needsafter Hurricanes Katrina and Rita–Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, New Orleans area, Louisiana, October 17–22, 2005. MMWR 2006;55:38–41.Google Scholar
8.Goenjian, AK, Molina, L, Steinberg, AM, et al. : Posttraumatic stress and depressive reactions among Nicaraguan adolescents after hurricane Mitch. Am J Psychiatry 2001;158:788–794.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Goenjian, AK, Steinberg, AM, Najarian, LM, et al. : Prospective study of post traumatic stress, anxiety, and depressive reactions after earthquake and political violence. Am J Psychiatry 2000;157:911–916.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Livanou, M, Kasvikis, Y, Basoglu, M, et al. : Earthquake-related psychological distress and associated factors 4 years after the Parnitha earthquake in Greece.Eur Psychiatry 2005;20:137–144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Montazeri, A, Baradaran, H, Omidvari, S, et al. : Psychological distress among Bam earthquake survivors in Iran: A population-based study. BMC Public Health 2005;5:4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Schuster, MA, Stein, BD, Jaycox, L, et al. : A nationalsurvey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. N Engl J Med 2001;345:1507–1512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Galea, S, Ahern, J, Resnick, H, et al. : Psychological sequelae of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. N Engl J Med 2002;346:982–987.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Ho, JE, Paultre, F, Mosca, L: Lifestyle changes in New Yorkers after September 11, 2001 (Data from the Post-Disaster Heart Attack Prevention Program). Am J Cardiol 2002;90:680–682.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Tsai, CH, Lung, FW, Wang, SY: The 1999 Ji-Ji (Taiwan) earthquake as a trigger for acute myocardial infarction. Psychosomatics 2004;45:477–482.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Katsouyanni, K, Kogevinas, M, Trichopoulos, D: Earthquake-related stress and cardiac mortality. Int J Epidemiol 1986;15:326–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Watanabe, H, Kodama, M, Okura, Y, et al. : Impact of earthquakes on Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. JAMA 2005;294:305–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Ogawa, K, Tsuji, I, Shiono, K, et al. : Increased acutemyocardial infarction mortality following the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in Japan. Int J Epidemiol 2000;29:449–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Leor, J, Kloner, RA: The Northridge earthquake as a trigger for acute myocardial infarction. Am J Cardiol 1996;77:1230–1232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Kloner, RA, Leor, J, Poole, WK, et al. : Population-based analysis of the effect of the Northridge Earthquake on cardiac death in Los Angeles County, California. J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;30:1174–1180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Brown, DL: Disparate effects of the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge earthquakes on hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction: Importance of superimposition of triggers. Am Heart J 1999;137:830–836.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Meisel, SR, Kutz, I, Dayan, KI, et al. : Effect of Iraqi missile war on incidence of acute myocardial infarction and sudden death in Israeli civilians. Lancet 1991;338:660–661.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.Kark, JD, Goldman, S, Epstein, L: Iraqi missile attacks on Israel. The association of mortality with a life-threatening stressor. JAMA 1995;273:1208–1210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24.Mihatov, S, Bergovec, M, Prpic, H, et al. : Incidence and hospital mortality of acute coronary artery disease among civilians in Zagreb during air-raid alarms.Acta Med Croatica 1995;49:49–52.Google ScholarPubMed
25.Feng, J, Lenihan, DJ, Johnson, MM, et al. : Cardiac sequelae in Brooklyn after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Clin Cardiol 2006;29:13–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26.Allegra, JR, Mostashari, F, Rothman, J, et al. : Cardiac events in New Jersey after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack. J Urban Health 2005;82:358–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27.Chi, JS, Poole, WK, Kandefer, SC, et al. : Cardiovascular mortality in New York City after September 11, 2001. Am J Cardiol 2003;92:857–861.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28.Johnston, SC, Sorel, ME, Sidney, S: Effects of the September 11th attackson urgent and emergent medical evaluations in a Northern California managed care plan. Am J Med 2002;113:556–562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Zheng, ZJ, Croft, JB, Giles, WH, et al. : Sudden cardiac death in the United States, 1989 to 1998. Circulation 2001;104:2158–2163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30.Peters, RW, Brooks, MM, Zoble, RG, et al. : Chronobiology of acute myocardial infarction: Cardiac arrhythmia suppression trial (CAST) experience. Am J Cardiol 1996;78:1198–1201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31.Parati, G, Antonicelli, R, Guazzarotti, F, et al. : Cardiovascular effects of an earthquake: direct evidence by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Hypertension 2001;38:1093–1095.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32.Matsuo, T, Suzuki, S, Kodama, K, et al. : Hemostatic activation and cardiac events after the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake. Int J Hematol 1998;67:123–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33.Iribarren, C, Crow, RS, Hannan, PJ, et al. : Validationof death certificate diagnosis of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac death. Am J Cardiol 1998;82:50–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34.Siscovick, DS, Weiss, NS, Fletcher, RH, et al. : The incidence of primary cardiac arrest during vigorous exercise. N Engl J Med 1984;311:874–877.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35.Noji, EK: The public health consequences of disasters. Prehospital Disast Med 2000;15:147–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36.Mayer, JD: Medical geography. An emerging discipline. JAMA 1984;251:2680–2683.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed